Circumstances support protective search of truck of cooperative defendant with no criminal record

SEARCH & SEIZURE United States v. Dennison, No. 04-1062, ___ F.3d ___ (10th Cir. Jun. 8, 2005)(Colorado). Appeal of conviction for unlawful possession of machine gun and aiding and abetting its possession in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(o), 924(a)(2), and 2. HELD: Under totality of circumstances, police had reasonable articulable suspicion of defendant’s potential threat to officer safety to justify protective sweep of his truck’s passenger compartment that ultimately led to discovery of illegal firearm. Although police knew defendant had no prior criminal record and was cooperative during investigative stop, facts that defendant was detained late at night in high-crime area in conjunction with arrest of passenger with multiple pending arrest warrants, provided for permissible inference of common enterprise with passenger sufficient to support reasonable suspicion that defendant was dangerous and able to gain immediate control of weapons. Read the opinion here.